ABSTRACT
In this chapter I aim to trace some of the key moves in the representation of girls and young women in academic research since the mid-1950s, in particular the contradictory ways in which girls and young women are constituted in contemporary First World societies, and the difficulties involved in living with, against, and through these contradictions. I argue that it is important to avoid adopting an Anglocentric perspective on the constitution of girlhood and the lives of girls and young women in contemporary societies, and also to acknowledge the diversity of girls’ lives, and the cultural dimension of that diversity.
